


What is love?

by spacedaydreamer



Category: Zero Escape (Video Games), Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma - Fandom
Genre: Multi, just some random short feel-good stuff, more fluff for the clone carlos au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-20 02:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9470996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedaydreamer/pseuds/spacedaydreamer
Summary: “What is ‘Love’? And don’t say ‘don’t hurt me’, I got that answer when I tried to ask online.” (clone carlos au, short and sweet fluff)





	

“Maria, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure thing, Carlos.”

“What is ‘Love’? And don’t say ‘don’t hurt me’, I got that answer when I tried to ask online.”

Maria closed her mouth as Carlos called her out before she could even start talking, and sighed.

“Well, that’s a pretty difficult question to answer. Why do you want to know?”

He crossed his arms and looked to the side- he was trying to pretend he hadn’t started blushing, but he was failing horribly at it. Maria got an excited grin on her face, and her eyes lit up as she stared at him.

“Oh my god, who is it? You have to tell me Carlos.”

“I-I, w-well…”

It was Carlos’s turn to sigh now, biting his lip.

“It’s just… whenever I’m hanging out with Junpei and Akane, my chest gets all funny. At first I thought I was sick, but when I tried looking it up online, the stuff I got sounds more like ‘love’. But I mean, I couldn’t be in love, right? They’re happy with each other, I’m just glad that we’re friends.”

Akane and Junpei weren’t just in love, they were _engaged_ \- so really, there was no way that Carlos could’ve developed feelings for them. He was probably just confusing friendship for romance, because he didn’t exactly have experience with either field.

“Oh, little bro, there’s so much I have to teach you…” Maria pushed Carlos down onto the couch, and slung an arm around his shoulders. She was significantly shorter than him, yet she always somehow managed to make herself feel tall when hanging around him. “First off- yep, sounds like love to me. It makes your heart get all fluttery, right? Your palms get sweaty, breathing heavy, all that jazz?”

“Y-yeah, that’s exactly it.”

“Then you’re definitely in love. But the second thing is, you aren’t limited to just loving one person, Carlos. I know the stuff I’ve shown you says otherwise, but the idea of having one soul mate from like, 8 billion people on the planet is just stupid. Don’t feel guilty for falling in love, so long as you’re honest with yourself.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, you’ve got to understand what you’re feeling. What’re the sorts of things that pop through your mind when you look at them?”

“Well, I… I just really enjoy spending time with them, and I want to make them happy. Sometimes... sometimes I imagine trying to hug them, or something… more…”

Carlos’s face was cherry red, terribly embarrassed to have even admitted to that. Maria was pretty excited on the other hand, nodding vigorously.

“Carlos, that’s adorable. Like, completely adorable.”

He buried his face in his hands, hoping that maybe her not being able to see his face anymore would stop the blush. It didn’t.

“J-just keep with the explanations please, Maria.”

“Fine, fine. But anyways, next thing is, you should probably explain to Junpei and Akane how you feel. They’re your friends, and I know they care for you- I’m sure you can trust them with the truth.”

“But-! But won’t that make things really awkward?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. They’re your friends Carlos, the last thing they’d want would be for you to suffer alone for their sake.”

He was pretty sure he heard Maria mutter something else under her breath, but when he asked her about it she would only wink and shrug.

“Hey, I got your back. I’ll even help you figure out what to tell them, and if you want then I can even come along for moral support. Okay?”

He sighed, but agreed. As incredibly nerve-wracking as the idea was, it _would_ be nice to have things out in the open with the two of them- and who knew, maybe once he got a rejection he’d be able to sort through his feelings better.

* * *

 

“W-well, um… Junpei, Akane… the truth is…”

Carlos was seated on the couch in their apartment, having come over under the front of ‘hanging out’. Well, he hoped they’d still be able too afterwards, at least…

“The truth is, I… I kinda have feelings for the both of you. I-I know, it’s probably kind of awkward, all things considered, but… I just wanted to tell you guys the truth.”

“Oh, is that all?”

Carlos blinked, staring at Akane. She had a warm smile on her face- a contrast to the furious blush on Junpei sitting beside her.

“Truth is, we feel the same way! Right, Jumpy?”

“R-right…”

“Huh?”

He looked back and forth between the two of them- this was _not_ the answer he’d been expecting. A gentle rejection, maybe let him down easy, but nope. Akane was acting as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, hardly even noticing Carlos’s confusion.

“I’ll admit Carlos, it was pretty obvious. I mean, you and Jumpy are _so_ easy to read when it comes to your crushes- you think you’re subtle at blushing, but neither of you are.”

Que both boys looking to the side, pretending their faces weren’t bright red. Akane laughed at how perfect the scene was, watching as they proved her entirely right.

“It’s okay if you’re awkward with this at first- I mean, it’s a first for me and Jumpy, too. But we both care about you a lot, and we’d love to spend even more time with you.”

“Y-yeah… I mean, you’re a nice guy, Carlos. You’ve always tried your best, and, um… I can appreciate that.”

Junpei looked like he was having a hard time figuring out what to say, and Carlos felt basically the exact same way. Even though he’d had a relatively normal life since the decision game ended, he still wasn’t really used to people complimenting him.

“J-Junpei… Akane… thanks.”

“Oh, you should thank Maria, too! I mean, it was the two of us who realized you and Junpei were never going to say anything on your own.”

Carlos… couldn’t really deny that. Even if he’d told Maria he was fine to talk with Akane and Junpei on his own, he never would’ve tried telling them if she hadn’t insisted. Hell, it’d taken him a good few months to even ask Maria in person about love, and what to do.

“Ehehe… I guess you’re probably right.” He smiled and scratched the back of his head, looking between the two of them. “So, um… what now, then?”

“Well, how about a movie?”

At Akane’s suggestion, Junpei’s eyes lit up and he sat up straight, instantly forgetting the blush on his face.

“Only one, Jumpy. We both still have work, no time for a marathon.”

“I knew that! I was just thinking, I know the perfect movie. That’s all.”

“Alright, if you say so, Jumpy…”

Her voice was teasing, and there was a pout on Junpei’s face as he got up to head for his collection. Carlos felt at ease as he watched the two of them- it was funny, he’d been so nervous this morning, and yet everything had turned out well. By the time Junpei had gotten back, Akane had invited Carlos over to the couch where they’d been seated, and Junpei took the spot in the middle after putting on the dvd.

“Hey, guys?”

“Yeah, Carlos?”

“I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> This thing was strangely hard to write. Maybe that's because the entire reason was because I thought of the joke in the first line and then had nothing else, but i've been trying to figure out how to end this for like 3 days now. However! I liked this ending and thought it was cute. Cteam is just,,, its such a good ot3, really supportive and in love and they care so much for each other,,, i love it.


End file.
